By Mark Scott

May 17 (Bloomberg) — American Superconductor Corp. signed a $445 million contract to supply components to Chinese wind- turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co., helping cement the U.S. company’s position in the fastest-growing wind energy market.

The supplier, based in Devens, Massachusetts, will sell electrical devices for Sinovel’s 1.5-megawatt windmills for 30 months starting in early 2011, according to Greg Yurek, American Superconductor’s founder and chief executive officer.

“This contract will help us to continue to grow aggressively in China,” Yurek said in a phone interview. “If you want to be in wind, you have to be in China.” The U.S. company’s shares rose as much as 6.5 percent in Nasdaq trading.

Buoyed by $47 billion in stimulus spending for clean-energy projects, China installed more than twice the number of turbines in 2009 than in the previous year, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimated. The country will add 18 gigawatts of capacity in 2010, equal to 15 new nuclear power plants, or double the wind turbines planned in the U.S., the second-largest market.

The contract extends an existing $450 million supply accord with Beijing-based Sinovel that will finish in the first half of 2011. The U.S. company made 70 percent of its 2009 revenue from the Chinese manufacturer, Barclays Capital has estimated.

Beijing-based Sinovel is China’s largest wind-turbine maker and ranks third worldwide behind Vestas Wind Systems A/S and General Electric Co. of the U.S., according to a 2009 report by Danish research firm Make Consulting.

Shares Climb

Shares in American Superconductor climbed as much as $2 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock traded at $32.43, up $1.47, or 4.8 percent, as of 10:10 a.m. local time.

To branch out, American Superconductor has signed several deals with other mainland firms since the fourth quarter of 2009. They include a $70 million contract with China’s Shenyang Blower Works on Jan. 2 and a $10 million agreement with Zhuzhou City-based CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co. Ltd. on March 3.

Even with the diversification, Sinovel remains the main customer for American Superconductor, Barclays Capital said.

“Sinovel continues to make up the majority of the company’s 12-month backlog,” Barclays Capital analysts said in a May 14 research note to investors.

–With assistance by Jeremy van Loon in Berlin; Editors: Todd White, Reed Landberg